The Baptist Union of Scotland

History

It is mainly through the personality, loyalty and devotion to God of a host of individual men and women that Baptist witness has grown and developed over nearly four centuries.

Here is the story of some of these people....

How it all began

Among Oliver Cromwell's troops arriving in Scotland in the mid 17th century, were many Baptist soldiers who used their influence to establish small churches in Leith, Perth, Cupar, Ayr and Aberdeen. When the army withdrew, these churches disappeared, and for the next 100 years Baptist life in Scotland ceased to exist.

The Preaching Knight

In 1750, Sir William Sinclair, landowner at Keiss in Caithness, having himself been baptised as a believer in England, gathered together a small congregation of tenants and neighbours who embraced believer's baptism, establishing a church which exists to this day.

Defending the Faith

"What does the bible say?", was the cry of those who struggles to lay the foundation of Baptist belief and practice. The Kingdom of God, they declared, is a spiritual one, and therfore the Church must acknowledge the rule of God and should not be subject to the authority of the State. It must be established on New Testament principles, self-ruling under God's guidance, its practices dictated by close studt of the Scriptures.

Two distinct streams of Baptist witness now developed, one concentrating on church government and the other on evangelistic outreach.

The Scotch Baptists

Robert Carmichael, an ex-Presbyterian minister, and Archibald McLean, a Glasgow printer and bookseller, were baptised in 1765 and set up the Scotch Baptist Movement as distinct from the English order. They insisted on weekly communion, believer's baptism and church control exercised by a group of elders rather than a single trained minister. Their first church, established in Edinburgh in 1765, was the forerunner of today's Bristo Baptist Church.

The Haldane Movement

Wealthy landowners, Robert and James Haldane, having a burning desire to reach the remotest parts of Scotland with the Gospel, sold their family estate in Airthrey (now part of the campus of Stirling University) using the proceeds to finance their own preaching missions and to train other evangelists. Baptists in 1808, they set up schools and missionary societies, founding churches at Grantown-on-Spey, Elgin, Arbroath, Wick, Duncan Street in Edinburgh and at Tullymet - which became the mother church of Pitlochry.

A Cloud of Witnesses

Time would fail to tell of the great number of faithful evangelists who, in the early years of the 19th century, covered vast distances on foot, braved storms on land and sea, preached in the open air and established congregations throughout the Highlands and Islands. Prominent among them was Christopher Anderson, who, in 1808, founded the congregation which is now Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh. He gave great encouragement and support to many of these itinerant preachers, set up Gaelic schools in the Highlands and in Ireland, and played a crucial part in supporting the work of the Baptist Missionary Society in India, under William Carey.

Highland Heroes

In 1827 the Baptist Home Mission for Scotland was set up to give support and encouragement to itinerant evangelists and the small scattered churches.

William Tulloch toiled for a lifetime among the mountains and glens of Atholl.
Alex Grant tramped the roadless tracks of Mull and Ardnamurchan.
Sinclair Thomson braved the storm-swept wastes of Shetland establishing six churches.
Peter Grant composed his songs as he tramped the moors and hills of Inverness.
Dugald Sinclair travelled the Western Isles preparing the ground for church planting.
Duncan McFarlane preached the gospel to the people of Tiree and great revivals followed.

A Joint Effort

The advantages of joint witness and support became more and more obvious as time went on and later more prosperous congregations were established in the cities. Rev. Francis Johnstone, of Cupar, pioneered an early effort to form a Union in 1843. He accomplished a great deal in the training of young ministers, inspiring evangelistic outreach and publishing and distributing gospel literature. However, 26 years were to pass before doctrinal and organisational issues were resolved and the Baptist Union of Scotland came into being.

Baptists United!

In 1869, fifty-one churches, comprising 3,500 members, formed the first Baptist Union of Scotland. By the close of the 19th century, this had increased to 118 churches and 16,905 members. A great evangelistic revival, coupled with industrial and economic expansion throughout Scotland in the late 19th century, had a tremendous influence on church growth.

"The Old Order Changeth"

Churches were revitalised. Strict practice gave way to greater freedom of worship and the introduction of hymns, choirs and organs came as the result of the Moody and Sankey mission of 1874.

Certain wealthy Christian industrialists and businessmen gave generous financial support, setting up funds for several church enterprises. Prominent among them were Thomas Coats of Paisley, the Pullar family of Perth, William Quarrier of Bridge of Weir orphan homes and many others.

"Yielding to New"

Rapid expansion in industry, education and commerce led to greatly increased social concern, especially among young people.

In 1895 the Sabbath School Association was formed, followed by Young Worshipper's League, Christian Endeavour, Girls' and Boys' Brigade and Seaside Mission work. The Scottish Baptist Total Abstinence Association was set up in 1881 to deal with the prevailing problem of drunkenness, with the Band of Hope movement to influence young people.

The Women's Auxiliary, whose motto was "By Love Serve One Another", was founded in 1909 with the aim of uniting Baptist women in evangelistic effort and in practical service to the denomination. Their achievements have been outstanding.

The monthly Scottish Baptist magazine appeared in 1874, followed by an annual Year Book containing a mine of information about every aspect of Baptist life.

Further Information

For further studies in Scottish Baptist History, please contact Brian Talbot at: briantalbot @ hotmail.co.uk